Jay Gould’s Chum Chooses “High Thinking, not Money Making,” and Wins
Success Without Riches.
WHEN I visited the hill-top retreat of John Burroughs, the
distinguished lover of nature, at West Park, New York, it was with
the feeling that all success is not material; that mere dollars are
nothing, and that the influential man is the successful man, whether
he be rich or poor. John Burroughs is unquestionably both influential
and poor. On the wooden porch of his little bark-covered cabin I
waited, one June afternoon, until he should come back from the woods
and fields, where he had gone for a ramble. It was so still that
the sound of my rocker moving to and fro on the rough boards of the
little porch seemed to shock the perfect quiet. From afar off came the
plaintive cry of a wood-dove, and then all was still again. Presently
the interpreter of out-door life appeared in the distance, and, seeing
a stranger at his door, hurried homeward. He was without coat or vest,
and looked cool in his white outing shirt and large straw hat. After
some formalities of introduction, we reached the subject which I had
called to discuss, and he said:—
“It is not customary to interview men of my vocation concerning
success.”
“Any one who has made a lasting impression on the minds of his
contemporaries,” I began, “and influenced men and women——”
“Do you refer to me?” he interrupted, naively.